July 2.023
9781805260592
216mm x 138mm
232pp
£30.00 Hardback
Policies/ History
World rights excluding the German & Hungarian languages

From aristocratic and Nazi legacies to parliamentary parties and new populisms, a renowned journalist explores the forces that have shaped Austria's politics since 1945.

Austria Behind
the Mask
Politics of a Nation since 1945

Austria has long been considered a European success story: a land-locked country on the losing side of World War Two, which emerged from ten years of post-war occupation as one of the EU's richest member-states, a symbol of social consensus and political independence at the heart of Europe. But in the 2020s, the forward march of the far-right populist FPO threatens the return of old demons: extreme xenophobic racism, and economic and political instability.
The governing partnership between Austria's youngest-ever Chancellor and the extreme-right party lasted less than two years, but has left a wreckage of corruption scandals, including an ongoing investigation of fraud at the top. A cosy relationship with Russia, particularly President Pucio, has cast a shadow over Austria's neutrality and repurarion as a reliable EU partner. Belated confrontation of the Nazi past and the lingering legacy of the imperial nobility further muddy the waters, while the long decline of social democracy-the bedrock of post-war nation-building-has been followed by the weak performance of the ruling conservative-green coalition, damaging trust in democracy.
Mixing personal memories with high political drama, Paul Lendvai reveals the knotted web of forces which have driven Austria to its current perilous state.

Paul Lendvai, a Hungarian-born Austrian journalise and author, was Vienna correspondent for the Financial Times for over twenty years. His most recent books, both published by Hurst, are The Hungarians (second edition); and Orban: Europe's New Strongman, which won rhe Prix du Livre Europeen.

Financial Times
A skillfully blended mixture of memoir, political analysis, and history that follows a garlanded 2017 biography of Viktor Orbán.

Literary Review
This book is worth reading for the worldly reason with which Lendvai anatomises the workings of power.

Karel Schwarzenberg (Foreign Minister of the Czech Republic 2007-2009 and 2010-2013)
Paul Lendvai is Austria`s most outstanding journalist. The quality of his analyses of East- and Central Europe is unique. A basic and conscious opponent of all authoritarian regimes. The Austrian media owes him world standard.

Neue Zürcher Zeitung
A merciless analysis of Austria`s political class..No critical subject is omitted …
Vorarlberger Nachrichten
One of the most outstanding Austri an journalists…spares no one.. His book is highly recommended.

Salzburger Nachrichten
An urgent wake-up call by a master of political analysis